A large number of different designs of sheaths and the like for the protection of users against medical needle points is known. After use, a medical needle may represent a substantial biohazard because of the possibility of AIDS or another bacterial or viral disease, which may be transmitted from a carrier to subsequent handlers of the needle by accidental needle stick. For example, various U.S. Patents are known pertaining to sheaths for winged needles, such as Utterberg U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,112,311; 5,266,072; 5,290,264; 5,562,637; 5,704,924; and more.
Also, needle protector sheaths for wingless needles are known, such as Alverez U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,993, Magre et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,012, Wanderer et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,708, and Kasuya U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,020, among others.
A common design of needle for a blood collection set carries the needle on the end of a blood collection tube by means of a rubber hub which is shorter than the needle, but transversely enlarged compared with the width of the needle. Also, such a rubber hub is roughly in the form of a rectangular block, but with an irregular surface. The needle is without wings, so the technology of needle sheath designs which are used with winged needles is not usable here. Also, the prior art for shielding of wingless needles has not proven to be practical for the shielding of needle sets of the above described design.
By this invention, a needle tip protector tube can be provided for a medical fluid flow set in which a needle is carried with a transversely enlarged hub having an irregular surface and generally of a length shorter than that of the needle. Preferred embodiments of the protector tube of this invention can provide sealing to the tip of the needle, which is desired when the set carrying the needle is a blood set, to avoid the spilling of blood out of the needle tip. Also, the protector tube is inexpensive, simple, and reliable for use. Particularly, it may be carried on the tubing of the set and then advanced to surround and seal the needle tip when desired, so that one does not have to poke the needle through one end of the protector tube as part of the tube application process. That action has been a source of needle stick accidents.